The Sunday News
Simba Jemwa, Sports Correspondent
2021 was a difficult year for all sporting codes, some more than others.
Covid-19 took a lot from sport in Zimbabwe and when sport was gradually allowed to resume, the economy had already taken a big hit from 2020 when almost the entire year was lost to the global pandemic.
But in all the problems that Covid-19 brought with it, there was some good; cycling gained an avid follower who started off riding to keep fit during lockdowns then fell in love and saw the need to empower young, black riders.
Now as 2021 comes to a close, what began as a hobby is now Unimills-Hokoyo Cycling Club, the best team in the country.
When Unimills-Hokoyo team principal Davies Muhambi bought a mountain bike, rode it a few times before founding what has become arguably the best cycling team in the country, all he wanted was to offer young black boys whose singular passion and dream was to ride pro an opportunity to live their dream.
Think back to a time before lockdown, some two years ago, even if it does feel like at least a decade.
Think really hard and you might just remember Muhambi struggling to match more experienced riders when he took up cycling.
But by 2021, he managed to build a team that has barnstormed race after race.
However, it wasn’t just their results that impressed, it was the way their aggressive riding was the star of the season.
This is a hint of things to come in 2022, if the season is not rudely interrupted by the ongoing global pandemic.
Unimills-Hokoyo had the best results and were undoubtedly the strongest team — they have a team of extraordinary depth and talent, and their leader Andrew Chikwaka is a machine.
They may not have the star-studded roster or budget of the super teams, but they have quietly created an absolutely revolutionary system and method.
In terms of results, they were great: Unimills-Hokoyo won both the National Time Trial and Road Race titles in October, the Volta A Bulawayo, took second at the Bambos Road Race which also featured top South African rider, Nolan Hoffman in Harare, won the Tour of the Great Dyke and were strong finishers at the 94.7 Ride Joburg road race.
This is a great return for any team.
Every race they have won or competed in, was in itself a superbly engineered team effort.
The riders may not always go in with the plan that ended up succeeding, but they understand how to work the finale of the stage once events had unfolded and just put it into action, where the other teams just looked like their plans were either attack, or hope for a sprint.
The Unimills-Hokoyo squad encapsulated what team spirit meant in 2021, racing with a kind of togetherness that visibly paid off in their results, and it’s hard for any cycling journalist to split them.
Watching the team, it was obvious that the riders all bought into an ethos of working for each other — giving their all to help someone else succeed — knowing they’d all be given their own opportunities, too.
They also just really looked like they were enjoying racing and that kind of atmosphere is visible as it transcends into exciting tactics.
Unimills-Hokoyo’s victories all stand out, for obvious reasons, but the fact that every one of their riders placed in the top three of every local race at least once says a lot more about the team’s approach and why it worked so well.
To then back that up with a competitive race at the 94.7 Ride Joburg, when few (except the team’s management) initially considered they’d be challenging for wins this year, is an even bigger achievement.
Chikwaka, meanwhile, was responsible for some of the year’s most stand-out racing moments.
Much has been said about the success of Chikwaka and teammates Advocate Phiri and Nodumo Dube, but the Unimills-Hokoyo team was more than just three riders in excellent form.
Other members of the team were equally consistent in local races all season.
The expertise from the technical support team under instruction from coach and retired rider, Chris Kazingizi in the team cars is no doubt invaluable — Kazingizi was a master tactician during his racing years and knew exactly how to engineer wins.
That kind of synchronicity only comes from riders and management all working with the same attitude and outlook.
Many teams have snapped up a host of A-list stars, and struggled to manage the egos and turn that into coherent racing.
In the two years since Unimills-Hokoyo launched, they’ve proved it’s completely possible.
Unimills-Hokoyo is a cycling club that was born from a vision and a want to empower young, black youths.
Now it has morphed into a unit of measure of cycling success in the country.
Muhambi’s vision is lowly coming to life: riders like Chikwaka who was born and bred in Makokoba can now race using a world class bike courtesy of the team’s principal and is now able to compete with the best in the world as evidenced by his strong finish in 48th position in a time of 2 hours 19 minutes and 45 seconds, less than 10 minutes behind race winner Travis Steadman who won the race in 2 hours 13 minutes and 30 seconds.
Muhambi has a vision and his vision could just see Zimbabwe take its place among the top elite cycling clubs in Africa and then eventually the world: with the help of a few good black boys that just want to race!
His ethos: dedication, empowerment and hard work! @RealSimbaJemwa
